BDawk: Eagles victims of paralysis by over-analysis vs. Cards

TAMPA-- Eagles free safety Brian Dawkins, in the Super Bowl city for a Home Depot-sponsored community service event, said the Birds' defense struggled in the NFC Championship loss to Arizona because it tried to be too smart for its own good.

“In that last game, I thought we were thinkingtoo much," Dawkins said. "You can’t go into a game thinking. You can’t go into a hostile environment, with that type of offense thinking, or you’ll be a step behind. And we were that in the first half.”

Dawkins -- who expressed optimism about re-signing with the Eagles -- said whether the Eagles can make another playoff run at the Super Bowl will be determined by how hard they look at themselves.

“The coaches have to find out what they can from the tape, from our success and failures, and really put it into practice," he said. "The same for the players; we have to make adjustments and not just say we’re going to.”

Dawkins also commented on other topics, including:

** Donovan McNabb's season-ending run of success after being benched and despite not having a healthy Brian Westbrook as a big threat.

“I’ve seen it so many times. That’s what Donovan is. We all know there have been questions about him throughout his career, about his play or whatever. But every time, he’s bounced back to have a pretty good run. I don’t know if he plays a bigger chip on his shoulder, but after down times he continues to step up and play good ball.”

“I believe they can come back and play at a high level. Jon had the injury at the end, but he’s played what, 200 (actually 213) in a row? He’s obviously played through things and he continued to play on that knee. AndTra has been a quiet, consistent guy on the other side. They have tough decisions to make, but if it’s my choice I’d definitely bring them back.”